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Deborah Stipek
Dean of the School of Education |
Less than two weeks after one of our nation’s most horrifying tragedies, SUSE faculty and students began a new academic year. We gathered at Stanford forever changed, yet firm in our resolve not to let the terrorists’ acts keep us from the important teaching, learning, and research work that gives us hope and purpose in a troubling world. We are more committed than ever to the important roles we play as educators in a global community.
I am particularly delighted to see the increased presence of SUSE faculty and students in public schools and communities. They are working to improve educational programs, especially for low-income students who often fare poorly in our nation’s schools.
The East Palo Alto charter high school we are helping to develop (see feature article), the Professional Development School collaborations, the support we provide for teachers working towards National Board Certification, the collaborations that are designed to help communities become more supportive of positive youth development, the work of faculty and students with practitioners on curriculum, teaching, uses of technology, and student assessment — these initiatives are having an impact. In brief, the Stanford University School of Education is becoming a major player in school and community reform efforts, in our own backyard and nationally.
While the practical contributions of our faculty and students are impressive in their own right, what is even more impressive is how well their support of school and community improvement has been integrated with the more traditional research and teaching mission of the School. Policy makers, educators, and researchers have long lamented the disconnect between educational research and practice. Knowledge created by researchers often does not find its way into practice —and rarely on a broad scale. Questions generated in practice rarely influence or shape research.
At SUSE, research and training objectives are deeply embedded in the initiatives designed to help schools and communities. Thus, many research projects are conducted in real educational and community settings. Practitioners play a role in defining the questions and interpreting and disseminating the findings. Graduate students – and some undergraduates – are involved, developing skills throughout the process.
As we prepare a new generation of researchers and practitioners for whom collaboration is essential to meaningful outcomes, we are having a profound impact on the quality of education in the future—locally, nationally, and internationally.
We have reason, even in challenging times, to be hopeful.
Sincerely,
